Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe says he is unsure how he will feel when he returns to Bournemouth for the first time since leaving them in August 2020.
The 45-year-old left the Cherries by mutual consent following their relegation from the Premier League.
Howe was in charge of the south coast side for more than 450 games across two spells, spanning more than a decade.
“We’ve been preparing the game as normal,” said Howe, whose side play Bournemouth on Saturday (17:30 GMT).
“The emotional side is difficult to predict how I’ll feel walking out into a stadium I know so well and so many people I know so well.
“For the moment, we are preparing the game as we would any other Premier League game.”
Bournemouth went from the lower reaches of League Two to become an established Premier League team under Howe, who guided them to three promotions in six seasons.
They spent five seasons in the top flight before being relegated in 2020.
Howe also spent almost his entire playing career with the Cherries, making over 300 appearances in two spells before joining the coaching staff.
His assistant at Newcastle, Jason Tindall, took over as Cherries boss after Howe’s departure before he was sacked in February 2021.
Striker Callum Wilson joined Newcastle from Bournemouth in September 2020 and, while he says he will be doing his best to score, added that he will not celebrate if he does so.
“I feel like they gave me an unbelievable opportunity to play and progress my career, so to celebrate in front of their fans against the team that means so much to them would be a bit disrespectful,” Wilson told the Footballer’s Football podcast.
We’re desperate to win – Howe
Fourth-placed Newcastle go into the game trying to further their claim for a Champions League spot, while Bournemouth are 19th as they try to avoid the drop.
“It’s very important that we don’t look at that,” said Howe. “Let’s look at what they have done in recent weeks.
“They have signed some very good players, invested in the transfer market. This is a different Bournemouth team to the one we have seen in previous weeks.
“They are very athletic, there is a lot of pace all through the team. This is a different game and we need to be ready for what’s ahead.”
The Magpies are unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League games but have drawn four of their last five in that run.
“We’re desperate to win. We want momentum in our season, we don’t want any kind of lull,” added Howe.
“We are 16 games unbeaten and we have to be positive but we need to win.”
Newcastle have top-flight games against Bournemouth and Liverpool before playing Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final on 26 February.
Howe says he has “banned” talk about the final at home.
“The final is two weeks and there are two games [beforehand],” he said.
“I’m not thinking about the final at all other than probably like everyone else around Newcastle with tickets. That’s the big word all around the city at the moment.
“I’ve had requests from all kinds of people, random text messages from people whose number I don’t know.
“We know we can’t look beyond Bournemouth and once that’s done we can’t look beyond Liverpool.”
